[GUIDE] Internal Memory Data Recovery - Yes We Can!

[Wartickler]

Go to my post on page 18, post 176. You won't have to wipe anything, though incur the same writes to your phone when installing Busybox and pushing the root.

Not sure about "adb backup" - either what it is or what will occur.

Hi. n00b here.

I accidentally deleted picture files on my Galaxy Nexus JOP40C which I would like to recover. However, until now I never knew anything about bootloaders or root access, so the recommendation by you, efrant, on another thread was to use these instructions to recover everything.

My question is- Assuming I run adb backup, what will happen when I unlock the bootloader (wiping everything) and root the phone (wiping everything) and then restore? Will ALREADY DELETED files appear during the 'restore' with the files that were wiped as a result of unlocking/rooting? Or do you think only current files will save to adb backup for later restoration?

Thanks for the help.

According to jcarmi04's post 176 there should be a way to unlock without actually having it wipe your device.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus Toro that is way better than yours [see also: "Mmuzzy"]

 

[TechGuyDev]

Thanx

The Preamble
Did you delete all your SDCard data?
Are you pissed because no one told you before you unlocked your bootloader what would happen?
Did you lose valuable pictures of cats doing wondrously funny things? :laugh:
Well now there's a convenient new way for you to get that data back Buckaroo!

The Problem
Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data recovery tools. But, cry no more cream-puff! :crying:

The Process
My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:

• back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file,
• convert the .RAW file output to a VHD,
• mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager,
• scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them,
• ?
• profit! :good:

The Requirements

• A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those who must root from wiping the device data a second time),
• BusyBox installed on your device,
• Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the exported .RAW file,
• Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]),
• ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path),
• USB Debugging enabled on your device,
• VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus],
• Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.)
• A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back... :fingers-crossed:

The Work

1. Identify which block/partition you want to recover. For our purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
2. Turn on your phone
3. Connect the phone in ADB mode
4. Unlock the screen.
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   adb shell
   /system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   cd /nexus
   nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw

7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a lot of running. When it's done...
8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and type:

   VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw

9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select Manage.
10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter (e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select Next>, select Finish.
17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32. Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes (0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other' radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\ (assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted. Select the Start button.
21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your files.
22. ?
23. Profit! :victory:

The Appendix
The following links helped me to create this modern marvel - mad props to scandiun! :

• [GUIDE] How to make a nandroid backup directly to your computer without using sdcard
• [Info] List of Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250 devices and partitions
• How to Create and Attach a Virtual Hard Disk in Windows 7

Good luck!

Nice post i will try at my best ...

 

[trout_of_death]

My thought is that whatever is your particular partition, you have the wrong one.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus Toro that is way better than yours [see also: "Mmuzzy"]

I went through it and checked, its the correct partition... next thought?

 

[capt.nizam]

Thanks

The Preamble
Did you delete all your SDCard data?
Are you pissed because no one told you before you unlocked your bootloader what would happen?
Did you lose valuable pictures of cats doing wondrously funny things? :laugh:
Well now there's a convenient new way for you to get that data back Buckaroo!

The Problem
Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data recovery tools. But, cry no more cream-puff! :crying:

The Process
My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:

• back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file,
• convert the .RAW file output to a VHD,
• mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager,
• scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them,
• ?
• profit! :good:

The Requirements

• A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those who must root from wiping the device data a second time),
• BusyBox installed on your device,
• Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the exported .RAW file,
• Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]),
• ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path),
• USB Debugging enabled on your device,
• VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus],
• Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.)
• A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back... :fingers-crossed:

The Work

1. Identify which block/partition you want to recover. For our purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
2. Turn on your phone
3. Connect the phone in ADB mode
4. Unlock the screen.
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   adb shell
   /system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   cd /nexus
   nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw

7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a lot of running. When it's done...
8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and type:

   VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw

9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select Manage.
10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter (e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select Next>, select Finish.
17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32. Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes (0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other' radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\ (assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted. Select the Start button.
21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your files.
22. ?
23. Profit! :victory:

The Appendix
The following links helped me to create this modern marvel - mad props to scandiun! :

• [GUIDE] How to make a nandroid backup directly to your computer without using sdcard
• [Info] List of Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250 devices and partitions
• How to Create and Attach a Virtual Hard Disk in Windows 7

Good luck!

Thanks a lotttt works flawles on my note 2

For Note 2 User or any other Android used need to recover look at this thread - > http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2140410

 

[sachin_madan]

Stuck at Step 6

not working for my Galaxy S3,
did everything step by step but stuck at step 6,
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p15.raw
* *0 B 0:00:00 [ * 0 B/s] [<=>*
as soon as i hit enter, the process is over ....returns nothing, 0KB Raw file.......please help

 

[anirudhks]

not working for my Galaxy S3,
did everything step by step but stuck at step 6,
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p15.raw
* *0 B 0:00:00 [ * 0 B/s] [<=>*
as soon as i hit enter, the process is over ....returns nothing, 0KB Raw file.......please help

After you run a dB shell make sure you run such command . And then the nc command..

 

[trout_of_death]

After you run a dB shell make sure you run such command . And then the nc command..

make sure you run what command after you run a dB shell?

 

[anirudhks]

Sorry you need to run the SU command

 

[sachin_madan]

Sorry you need to run the SU command

may please tell in detail about SU command
and at what stage should i run that?????

 

[anirudhks]

may please tell in detail about SU command
and at what stage should i run that?????

First run the adb forward command as step 1 then run adb shell ªâ step 2 on step 3 run su. You will get a pop up on phone as allow root .. click grant and continue with the nc command step

 

[sachin_madan]

First run the adb forward command as step 1 then run adb shell ªâ step 2 on step 3 run su. You will get a pop up on phone as allow root .. click grant and continue with the nc command step

I did the same infact, ran the superuser command and granted permission on my S3 and then the NC command,
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p15.raw
* *0 B 0:00:00 [ * 0 B/s] [<=>*
this is after that only....

Is the memory block same for S3 Jelly bean (4.1.2)??

 

[acruz2446]

The Preamble
Did you delete all your SDCard data?
Are you pissed because no one told you before you unlocked your bootloader what would happen?
Did you lose valuable pictures of cats doing wondrously funny things? :laugh:
Well now there's a convenient new way for you to get that data back Buckaroo!

The Problem
Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data recovery tools. But, cry no more cream-puff! :crying:

The Process
My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:

• back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file,
• convert the .RAW file output to a VHD,
• mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager,
• scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them,
• ?
• profit! :good:

The Requirements

• A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those who must root from wiping the device data a second time),
• BusyBox installed on your device,
• Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the exported .RAW file,
• Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]),
• ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path),
• USB Debugging enabled on your device,
• VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus],
• Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.)
• A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back... :fingers-crossed:

The Work

1. Identify which block/partition you want to recover. For our purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
2. Turn on your phone
3. Connect the phone in ADB mode
4. Unlock the screen.
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   adb shell
   /system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   cd /nexus
   nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw

7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a lot of running. When it's done...
8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and type:

   VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw

9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select Manage.
10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter (e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select Next>, select Finish.
17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32. Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes (0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other' radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\ (assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted. Select the Start button.
21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your files.
22. ?
23. Profit! :victory:

The Appendix
The following links helped me to create this modern marvel - mad props to scandiun! :

• [GUIDE] How to make a nandroid backup directly to your computer without using sdcard
• [Info] List of Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250 devices and partitions
• How to Create and Attach a Virtual Hard Disk in Windows 7

Good luck!

i am having trouble on where to put the adb.exe i put it in the orgin path of the c:/cygwin and in the c:adb [path but when i poen the terminal i get the message


bash:adb: command not found, how would i fix this issue?

 

[sachin_madan]

I did the same infact, ran the superuser command and granted permission on my S3 and then the NC command,
nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p15.raw
* *0 B 0:00:00 [ * 0 B/s] [<=>*
this is after that only....

Is the memory block same for S3 Jelly bean (4.1.2)??

Also, i checked the mmcblk files at dev/block in my S3, there is no block with name of mmcblk0p15......
mmcblk0p12 is there and i tried all the steps with mmcblk0p12.raw, but the same result

 

[sachin_madan]

Also, i checked the mmcblk files at dev/block in my S3, there is no block with name of mmcblk0p15......
mmcblk0p12 is there and i tried all the steps with mmcblk0p12.raw, but the same result

Hey,
tried adb shell mount and found that mmcblk0p12 is my S3 data partition....
tried a couple of times and BINGO, its finally running........
will try to finish the process now......

 

[sachin_madan]

The Preamble
Did you delete all your SDCard data?
Are you pissed because no one told you before you unlocked your bootloader what would happen?
Did you lose valuable pictures of cats doing wondrously funny things? :laugh:
Well now there's a convenient new way for you to get that data back Buckaroo!

The Problem
Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data recovery tools. But, cry no more cream-puff! :crying:

The Process
My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:

• back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file,
• convert the .RAW file output to a VHD,
• mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager,
• scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them,
• ?
• profit! :good:

The Requirements

• A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those who must root from wiping the device data a second time),
• BusyBox installed on your device,
• Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the exported .RAW file,
• Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]),
• ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path),
• USB Debugging enabled on your device,
• VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus],
• Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.)
• A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back... :fingers-crossed:

The Work

1. Identify which block/partition you want to recover. For our purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
2. Turn on your phone
3. Connect the phone in ADB mode
4. Unlock the screen.
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   adb shell
   /system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   cd /nexus
   nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw

7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a lot of running. When it's done...
8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and type:

   VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw

9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select Manage.
10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter (e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select Next>, select Finish.
17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32. Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes (0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other' radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\ (assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted. Select the Start button.
21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your files.
22. ?
23. Profit! :victory:

The Appendix
The following links helped me to create this modern marvel - mad props to scandiun! :

• [GUIDE] How to make a nandroid backup directly to your computer without using sdcard
• [Info] List of Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250 devices and partitions
• How to Create and Attach a Virtual Hard Disk in Windows 7

Good luck!

Hi,
Did everything .....got raw file, run recuva but didnt get even a single lost picture..... it shows the recoverable pictures even older than ithe one i was looking for, not even a single result for those pictures......
any other way guys????

 

[rjkool3]

Stuck trying to transfer

The Preamble
Did you delete all your SDCard data?
Are you pissed because no one told you before you unlocked your bootloader what would happen?
Did you lose valuable pictures of cats doing wondrously funny things? :laugh:
Well now there's a convenient new way for you to get that data back Buckaroo!

The Problem
Internal Memory doesn't mount as a drive like external memory does. External memory would allow you to use data recovery tools that scan for deleted files and return them to a usable state. These tools work because most operating systems don't go through and set all of those 1's and 0's to just 0's when you delete a file. Usually the operating system will just delete the reference pointer in the index that says that a file exists with such-and-such name and it's located at this position on the hard disk / memory location. There are destructive delete tools out there that will overwrite the spot of a deleted file multiple times to discourage recovery in just this manner. The issue is that data recovery tools need an actual mounted drive in order to dig deep and unearth those funny pictures of cats you so tragically deleted by accident. These newest batches of phones don't have external SDcards which are super easy to mount as drives. Internal memory mounts as MTP/PTP which is not treated as a mounted drive and cannot be scanned by these data recovery tools. But, cry no more cream-puff! :crying:

The Process
My phone is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (toro) though I imagine this should work for ANY phone with Internal Memory. We will be using a Windows 7 machine to:

• back up the entire internal memory partition to your computer as a single, massive .RAW file,
• convert the .RAW file output to a VHD,
• mount the VHD as a disk in Disk Manager,
• scan the attached VHD volume for files that have been deleted and recover them,
• ?
• profit! :good:

The Requirements

• A rooted Android phone, (try to root with a non-destructive method as this appears to protect those who must root from wiping the device data a second time),
• BusyBox installed on your device,
• Cygwin installed to [c:\cygwin] with pv and util-linux from the repo. Make sure to open Cygwin once to make sure that the /bin folder is created. Also, I made a folder at [c:\cygwin\nexus] to put the exported .RAW file,
• Netcat (download the ZIP file and extract nc.exe to [c:\cygwin\bin]),
• ADB (make sure adb.exe is in your path),
• USB Debugging enabled on your device,
• VHD tool from the mighty M$. Put the VhdTool.exe file in [c:\cygwin\nexus],
• Piriform Recuva or your favorite data recovery tool, (it appears Recuva only finds the more common file types like images, videos, etc. Those were the file types in which I was interested. If you are after more exotic file types perhaps you might share the software you used.)
• A calm sense of peace and serenity that you will get your files back... :fingers-crossed:

The Work

1. Identify which block/partition you want to recover. For our purpose here we are seeking to recover the userdata partition: /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
2. Turn on your phone
3. Connect the phone in ADB mode
4. Unlock the screen.
5. Open a Cygwin terminal and enter (This assumes your BusyBox installation is at [/system/bin/busybox]. It may be at [/system/xbin/busybox]):
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   adb shell
   /system/bin/busybox nc -l -p 5555 -e /system/bin/busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p12

6. Open another Cygwin terminal and enter:
   

   adb forward tcp:5555 tcp:5555
   cd /nexus
   nc 127.0.0.1 5555 | pv -i 0.5 > mmcblk0p12.raw

7. Run around the house a few times. For 32GB internal memory this is going to take 3+ hours. That's a lot of running. When it's done...
8. We need to convert the .RAW file to a virtual hard drive. VhdTool.exe basically just puts a VHD footer on the end of the .RAW file. Open a Windows command prompt, go to [c:\cygwin\nexus], and type:

   VhdTool.exe /convert mmcblk0p12.raw

9. Now we need to mount the VHD in Windows. Select the Start button-->right-click Computer-->select Manage.
10. Select Storage-->Disk Management.
11. In the menu select Action-->Attach VHD.
12. For Location enter [c:\cygwin\nexus\mmcblk0p12.raw] and select the OK button.
13. Right-click on the name (e.g. "Disk 1") to the left of the Unallocated space and select Initialize Disk.
14. Select the GPT (GUID Partition Table) radio button and select the OK button.
15. Right-click on the Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume...
16. In the Wizard select Next>, leave the default for the volume size, select Next>, select a drive letter (e.g. K), select Next>, MAKE SURE to select the 'Do not format this volume' radio button, select Next>, select Finish.
17. A box will pop up asking you to format the drive. You DO NOT want to format the drive at this time.
18. Right-click on the RAW space and select Format... MAKE SURE to change the File system to FAT32. Set the Allocation unit size dropdown to 'Default.' MAKE SURE that the Perform a quick format checkbox is CHECKED. You do not want to overwrite the entire new drive with all zeroes (0's) and destroy your data. Quick Format means that it will only attempt to destroy the index for the drive by establishing a new index. Without this box checked the Windows operating system will write zeroes (0's) across the entire volume, potentially destroying your data. Select the OK button.
19. A box will pop up saying that Formatting this volume will erase all data on it. That would be doubly true if you actually didn't check the 'Perform a quick format' checkbox. Double check that you actually did check the box and select the OK button. (Don't worry. This essentially leaves the volume in the exact same state that your phone's internal memory is living in right now: there is data on the drive...you just can't see it. It's coming back, I promise!)
20. Open the Piriform Recuva application. In the wizard select the 'Next >' button. Select the 'Other' radio button and select Next >. Select the 'In a specific location' radio button and enter: k:\ (assuming K is the drive letter you chose...) Select the Next > button. Select the Enable Deep Scan checkbox. This is the magical setting that finds files that have been deleted...but not really deleted. Select the Start button.
21. The application may take about an hour to do the 'Deep Scan.' It's time for more laps around the house! Once the application has returned its results you can choose which files to recover using the checkboxes. Select the 'Recover...' button and choose the location to which you wish to output your files.
22. ?
23. Profit! :victory:

The Appendix
The following links helped me to create this modern marvel - mad props to scandiun! :

• [GUIDE] How to make a nandroid backup directly to your computer without using sdcard
• [Info] List of Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9250 devices and partitions
• How to Create and Attach a Virtual Hard Disk in Windows 7

Good luck!

First I must say THANK YOU for this post. Even though I haven't succeeded yet I see others have and it gives me hope. I have nearly everything working but when I type in the NC command to transfer, the time updates but nothing else. I left if for an hour and still nothing. Then just to see what would happen if I hit keys I hit the tab key and it copied the line, then each time I hit enter after hitting the tab key the first time it begins to copy the data... AKA it appears I have to continually hit the enter key for it to copy data. am I missing something? I did a test run on a 60MB block and it took 4.5 minutes. If I'm right that would mean at this speed the 12GB user data partition would take 15 hours? Any help would be much appreciated. The worst part is it isn't my phone its my brother in laws (who doesn't speak English or know much about computers) and I'm leaving to go home in a day and a half so I'm going to start it running but I'm hoping someone can give me a pointer as to why I need to hit enter to copy the file. (oh and I am using the su command and granting access on the phone, without it I didn't seem to get anything to happen)

Thanks,

 

[anirudhks]

First I must say THANK YOU for this post. Even though I haven't succeeded yet I see others have and it gives me hope. I have nearly everything working but when I type in the NC command to transfer, the time updates but nothing else. I left if for an hour and still nothing. Then just to see what would happen if I hit keys I hit the tab key and it copied the line, then each time I hit enter after hitting the tab key the first time it begins to copy the data... AKA it appears I have to continually hit the enter key for it to copy data. am I missing something? I did a test run on a 60MB block and it took 4.5 minutes. If I'm right that would mean at this speed the 12GB user data partition would take 15 hours? Any help would be much appreciated. The worst part is it isn't my phone its my brother in laws (who doesn't speak English or know much about computers) and I'm leaving to go home in a day and a half so I'm going to start it running but I'm hoping someone can give me a pointer as to why I need to hit enter to copy the file. (oh and I am using the su command and granting access on the phone, without it I didn't seem to get anything to happen)

Thanks,

Could u give more details about what OS you are using and the hone details ...

 

[rjkool3]

details

Could u give more details about what OS you are using and the hone details ...

Sorry I meant to include that. Laptop is win 7 x64 and phone is galaxy s3 running a rooted version of stock ATT system 4.1.1. Baseband I747UCDKL3.

I'm using stock gs usb cable and I was able to copy the one partition. I used the latest version of cygwin and had to install pv manuallt placing the exe in the folder using another post at sourceforge.net/projects/pvforcygwin/files/pv-1.3.4-1/

. Any other info that would be handy?

 

[anirudhks]

Sorry I meant to include that. Laptop is win 7 x64 and phone is galaxy s3 running a rooted version of stock ATT system 4.1.1. Baseband I747UCDKL3.

I'm using stock gs usb cable and I was able to copy the one partition. I used the latest version of cygwin and had to install pv manuallt placing the exe in the folder using another post at sourceforge.net/projects/pvforcygwin/files/pv-1.3.4-1/

. Any other info that would be handy?

First things first have you logged in as Administrator on the PC ?
Have teh UAC been turned off on the Windows level

The PV and the NC need to be in the bin folder of the cygwin

make sure Antivirus is disabled , most of the times the nc.exe is detected as a virus on the machine ..

 

[rjkool3]

Copying very slow

First things first have you logged in as Administrator on the PC ?
Have teh UAC been turned off on the Windows level

The PV and the NC need to be in the bin folder of the cygwin

make sure Antivirus is disabled , most of the times the nc.exe is detected as a virus on the machine ..

Yes the PV and NC are in the bin folder, Antivirus is disabled and the windows UAC were disabled and I am logged in as administrator.

Again thanks for the replies.